


sens de la vie

by bluesxrgent



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Art, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Museum Date, have i ever written something canon compliant who is she, lil og easter egg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 12:11:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesxrgent/pseuds/bluesxrgent
Summary: this is for 75 dates in the skam universe and my prompt was a museum date <33aka a little dive into all of those instagram pics and stories





	sens de la vie

To preface, Eliott loved Lucas, he really did. More than anything. That said, if he didn’t shut up, Eliott might have to kill him. 

“I just don’t get it,” Lucas said for the millionth time that afternoon. What wasn’t to get? It was art, you didn’t have to understand everything to appreciate it. Besides, Lucas was the one who suggested a museum date, it wasn’t like Eliott had forced him to come or anything. 

“So you’ve said,” Eliott grumbled in response, moving to look at the next painting. Lucas jolted as he moved, and Eliott remembered with a small laugh that they were holding hands. Sometimes he forgot when they were touching because Lucas felt so natural to him that it was like an extension of his own body. He’d said something along those lines to Yann, Arthur, and Basile once, and they’d just laughed at how whipped he was. That was true, he knew that, but there was something stronger to him about this feeling. He’d never felt like that about Lucille. 

He liked to think it meant that they were soulmates, but he would never say it aloud. He could only imagine the monumental eye roll that would follow.

“Oh,” Lucas said in surprise, pulling Eliott from his thoughts, “I like this one.”

Eliott smiled in relief, that, finally, Lucas could appreciate art the way it was supposed to be appreciated, until he saw what Lucas was looking at. “I’m going to murder you.”

“Eliott!” A laugh bubbled out of Lucas, lighting up his whole face. 

“Those are the directions to lead to the next exhibition. It’s literally just telling you where to go,” Eliott explained patiently, trying not to let his exasperation show on his face. 

Lucas frowned. “Oh. I thought it was some sort of ‘break-the-third-wall’ piece with like, a deeper meaning about society and the direction of our lives. How we choose who gives our life direction, and how that’s the true secret to the meaning of life.”

“I think you meant the fourth wall,” Eliott said, completely dumbfounded. The one time Lucas actually puts thought into a piece of art, coming up with a beautifully analysis, he’s talking about the  _ directions _ . Eliott was caught between strangling and kissing the hell out of him. 

“Isn’t that what I said?” Lucas asked airily, continuing to walk to the next room. He scrunched his nose when they got into the room, and Eliott felt his own blood pressure spike the second before Lucas opened his mouth again, and said, “I don’t get it.”

“I swear to god Lucas, you’re killing me,” Eliott said, putting his face into his hands. 

“What?” Lucas asked with genuine surprise. 

Eliott couldn’t help but laugh. Lucas was something else, wasn’t he? “You’ve said that about every piece of art, except the one that wasn’t a piece of art.”

“Well I’m not all arty like you, I just don’t understand this stuff. Like, what is this supposed to be? Those pairs of headphones aren’t connected to anything,” Lucas said defensively, crossing his arms. 

“Did you just call me arty?”

Lucas smirked. “I was going to call you an art hoe.”

Eliott ignored this, reaching for Lucas’ hand again and pulling him closer to the art in question. It had a title that looked to be in a different language. “Look,” he said, pointing to a sheet of instructions, “It’s an interactive piece, you’re supposed to plug the headphones into your phone and play a song that reminds you of love, or falling in love, and there’s a recording device installed in each pair that records the song. Then the songs are added to a playlist and broadcasted over a video about love in the next room over.” He blinked in appreciation. “That’s really cool actually.”

But Lucas was no longer listening, giggling to himself. Eliott took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows in question, silently asking what was so funny. Lucas bit his lip to contain his grin, pointing to where he’d pretended to plug a pair of headphones into a rock from a different display, a table over. When Eliott didn’t react, Lucas explained, through breathless giggles, “It’s  _ rock _ music.”

Why and how had Eliott fallen so hard for this utter  _ dumbass _ . If it was Lucille, he probably would have been livid that she was making a joke of the art, but with Lucas he wanted to laugh along. So he did, even taking out his phone and recording Lucas pretending to dance to the music, not caring if they looked like they didn’t belong there or if other visitors were judging them for not taking it all seriously. 

That was just it, wasn’t it? The fact that he wanted to share in Lucas’ joy, no matter how stupid it was, that was true love. He couldn’t imagine getting mad at Lucas, even if he didn’t get things the same way Lucas did. Because he knew that if their roles were reversed, Lucas wouldn’t get mad at him. Annoyed, maybe, but it was a fond annoyance, the kind that said  _ You’re such an idiot but I love you so much anyway _ . 

Although, Eliott was still going to teach Lucas a bit about art. He planned on filling their lives and the lives of their future children with so much art, which meant Lucas had to be able to understand what he was so passionate about. Even if it meant he had to let Lucas teach him a bit about science. 

“Do you want to do it?” Lucas nodded at the headphones, and Eliott smiled in agreement. “Got a song in mind? I know that ‘Sexyback’ just  _ screams _ Lucas Lallemant, but I don’t know if that’s the vibe they’re going for.”

“Hmm, I was thinking more along the lines of ‘Sexy and I Know it’,” Eliott responded emphatically. Lucas flashed a quick grin, nudging his arm. 

“No really,” he said, “Do you have a song in mind?”

Eliott nodded. “I do, but I don’t know what it’s called.”

“How is that possible?” Lucas laughed.

Eliott shrugged, raising one eyebrow at Lucas. “Because you never told me.”

“What?”

“That song you played for me on the piano, the first time we hung out. Pretty sure my heart was yours from that moment on.”

Lucas’ face went bright red, but his expression screamed embarrassment, not love. “Oh, right.”

“Something wrong…?” Eliott prompted, confused. 

“I don’t remember what it’s called,” Lucas said quickly, “Oops, sorry.”

Eliott didn’t believe that for one second, but he could humor Lucas. “Ok, I guess I can try to look it up, I remember some of the notes.” He didn’t, but Lucas didn’t need to know that. 

“No, no, don’t do that. Just pick a different song,” Lucas tried fruitlessly.

“Can’t remember any others at the moment, unfortunately,” Eliott said with an exaggerated sigh. 

Lucas grimaced, closing his eyes. “I love you.” He peeked open one eye, glancing at Eliott before closing it again. 

“I love you too?” He did, it was just a little bit out of nowhere. 

Lucas groaned. “No, I mean, I do love you, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Ok?”

“‘I Love You’ is the name of the song,” Lucas admitted quietly, and Eliott grinned involuntarily, before he even registered what Lucas said. 

“I’m sorry?” he clarified.

Lucas crossed his arms again, opening his eyes to glare at Eliott. “You heard me.”

“I can’t believe you were so whipped for me that you played me a song called ‘ _ I Love You’ _ the first time we ever hung out. You had a crush on me, didn’t you,” Eliott cooed, wrapping Lucas up in his arms, grumpy hedgehog that he was. 

“We’re literally dating! What does it matter if I had a crush on you, you had a crush on me too, Mr. I like surprising people,” Lucas squeaked indignantly, fussing in Eliott’s arms. Eliott kissed the top of his head to make him stop squirming, pulling their faces close together. 

“I’m just teasing. I love that song and I love that it made me fall in love with you. Can we both play it at the same time?” he asked, nodding to the headphones. Lucas glanced at his lips with heavy eyes, and Eliott indulged him, pressing their lips together in a brief but deep kiss. 

“Let’s do it,” Lucas said, pulling out his phone and plugging it in as Eliott did the same. They both searched the song and hit play at the same time, wrapping the headphones around their ears. The minute Eliott heard the first few notes being played, he smiled so wide he could barely see out of his eyes. Lucas leaned into him, holding out his phone to take a picture, but Eliott couldn’t even dim his smile for it one notch. Lucas didn’t seem to care though, placing his phone back on the table and wrapping his arms around Eliott’s waist. 

They listened to the whole song in silence, holding one another and letting themselves be transported back to the night Lucas had played it, their first unofficial date, really. If Eliott teared up a little bit, Lucas didn’t say anything about it, and if Lucas’ face was so red it was practically a tomato the entire time, Eliott didn’t say anything about it. They shared a few kisses, only because they really couldn’t help it, not only pressed softly onto lips, but also the top of Lucas’ head, Eliott’s cheek, Lucas’ forehead, Eliott’s hand, and everywhere in between. 

Once the song finished, they followed the path to the next room, where there was a large projection on the wall and a small bench with a remote. Lucas headed for it immediately, clicking a button to start the video, only to be greeted by a selection screen. 

“Oh, cool, Eliott look at this. We can choose what song to listen to with the video,” he said, pointing at the options. He looked so cute that Eliott just had to capture the moment, taking a quick video before sitting beside Lucas.

“We’re listening to our song, obviously,” Eliott said, taking the remote. 

Lucas rolled his eyes in fake exasperation. “Duh.”

They clicked play on ‘I Love You - RIOPY’ and saw their own faces looking back at them. Eliott saw his face split into the widest grin he’d ever seen, saw Lucas lean into him, saw them take a photo, saw Lucas’ arms wrap around his waist, saw them look at each other as if no one else in the world existed, watched them kiss one another, try not to cry, and fall in love all over again.

Eliott didn’t think either of them moved an inch during the entire video, gaping at it with mouths hanging open. As the song faded out text came over the screen, explaining the installation, and Eliott cursed himself for not thinking of something like it.

_ The theme of this project is love, but love has many forms. No one video could ever express the idea or feeling of love in the way you, yourself can. Music is a universal outlet for love, one that transcends language, race, sexuality, gender, and all else. So I gave you a task: find a song that is love in its purest form and play it. I’ll do the rest of the work, recording it and playing it over a video all about love. Simple, easy. But as much as love is universal, just as music is universal, that universality comes from individuality, of being the only person who can feel what you feel. The person I love once told me that, and it’s stuck with me ever since. There are cameras recording all over the gallery, activated once you plug in your device to play music, and they record what love means to you, the individual, through your choice of music. Love may make you happy, sad, angry, embarrassed, excited, all of the above, and more, so I compiled the footage to make a database of what love means to you, all of you, to show that no matter how love makes you feel, remember that at the end of the day love always wins, and you deserve all the love in the world. Alt er love.  _

The screen faded to black and Eliott turned slowly to meet Lucas’ eyes. 

“Wow,” Lucas said, and Eliott could only nod. Because, wow. It was a genius idea, and such a meaningful one at that. Eliott could only imagine what other people thought when they viewed themselves up on that big screen, awestruck if not somewhat confused, at least until the artist’s note at the end. “That was incredible,” Lucas continued. 

“It was so unexpected, but it was perfect,” Eliott agreed, standing up to let the next person waiting come and experience the art. Lucas took his hand as he stood up, walking slowly as if still in a daze. 

“I get it now,” Lucas said once they were back outside the gallery space. “Why art means so much to you, why it’s so important. That was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I’m so glad I got to do it with you. If it hadn’t been you, I probably never would have come here, and this probably sounds dramatic, but I feel like my life and view on the world has changed for the better.”

Lucas put one of his hands over his face, cheeks reddening. “God, that sounds so stupid, look what you’ve done to me.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid at all. That was one of the most amazing installations I’ve ever seen. My life and view on the world have changed too. I might never have come here if you hadn’t suggested it either, you know,” Eliott said. In all honesty he probably would have, but it meant a whole lot that Lucas was there with him.

Lucas smiled a smile that nearly melted Eliott, and Eliott had to look away so he wouldn’t be publicly indecent with his affection. Upon doing so, he realized where they were, right in front of the art that wasn’t art that Lucas had analyzed so thoroughly it was all Eliott could think about.

“Stand in front of that wall,” Eliott said abruptly, pointing at the words on the wall. “I want it to look like the arrow is pointing at you.”

“Why?” Lucas asked, standing where Eliott had positioned him, glancing through his long eyelashes and laughing softly. 

Why? Because Lucas had thought a set of directions was art, and because Lucas gave his life direction. And that direction had led him, just as Lucas had said, to the meaning of life. He’d always known it deep down, but it was to love and be loved unconditionally, at least to him. Everyone could have a different interpretation, but that was the great thing about art, and about love itself, as the installation they’d viewed had stated. 

Lucas’ face was serious as Eliott took the photo, and Eliott’s heart grew about ten sizes in his chest, so much so that he was worried it might be so big he’d have to carry it around for a while. Lucas placed his head on Eliott’s shoulder, blinking with bright eyes. “Onto the next exhibit?”

“Look at you, you little art hoe,” Eliott said, tapping Lucas’ nose and ruffling his hair. Lucas scrunched up his face and narrowed his eyes in regret. 

“Don’t push it,” he said, but Eliott could tell he was holding back a grin.

“Just one second,” Eliott said, pulling Lucas to the information desk at the front of the museum. The attendant looked up in surprise as Eliott approached. 

“What can I help you with?” she asked, looking between the two of them.

“I was just wondering,” Eliott began, “Who is the artist of the ‘Alt er Love’ installation?” He planned on becoming their biggest fan. 

The attendant smiled knowingly. “It’s a beautiful exhibition, isn’t it? We’ve received a lot of positive feedback so far.”

“It’s  _ incredible _ ,” Eliott said, only, it wasn’t Eliott, it was Lucas. Eliott had opened his mouth to speak, but Lucas had stolen the words before they could be spoken. 

“‘Alt er Love’ was created by a Norweigan artist named Even Bech Næsheim,” the attendant told them, and Eliott thanked her before walking off with Lucas to wherever they would go next. 

Whoever Even Bech Næsheim was, Eliott felt quite inspired by him and would definitely be researching him more when he and Lucas returned home from their date. He owed this artist more than just a simple gallery appreciation. It was one of the most impactful experiences of his life, there was no way he couldn’t acknowledge that. 

Alt er love. Eliott still didn’t know what it meant, but he liked it quite a bit.

**Author's Note:**

> can you tell that i too am an art hoe? this installation was actually an idea i had but idk how to make it work so into the fic it goes! 
> 
> find me on tumblr: @livvyblxckthxrn


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